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Amway's troubles in Japan go far deeper than that nation's endemic economic ills, but the Ada-based direct sales giant has no intention of leaving that country to concentrate elsewhere.
Widely reported in the Japanese media, the Japanese Consumer Information Center Kokumin Seikatu Center, a government-run "Better Business Bureau," has told the Japanese Diet subcommittee on consumer economics that Amway is the only company that has led to more than 1,000 "inquiries and claims" each year for the last four years with the consumer protection agency. The JCIC is also known as the Kokumin Seikatu Center and the National Life Center. The Japanese Diet is the country's national legislature.
Troubles with Amway and other so-called "multi-level marketing" companies led to stronger controls on pyramid ad quasi-pyramid selling in 1996.
"In some cases, the individuals involved become so enthusiastic about this type of scheme (pyramid and quasi-pyramid selling) that it causes problems for family members and friends, who often lodge a complaint," a JCIC newsletter explained earlier this year.
The numbers of...